Meg Gray's Blog, page 3

School Today!

I'm going to use this blog to share about our family's homeschooling experience. As you read please know that I don't tout homeschooling as the best and only option for schooling children. We made a very informed decision when we decided to follow this path because it is right for our family and our children's education. It is the right choice for us and I am passionate about our choice...if I wasn't than this whole thing wouldn't be working out so well.

When I share that we homeschool I get a lot of questions about why we made our choice and how we do it. So, this is simply a platform to share the answers to those questions. If you are at all interested, keep reading....

One thing I love about homeschooling is that we make our own schedule. For instance, today is President's Day. School buildings all across the nation are closed today, but not our's. There will be school today. We maintain a regular schedule of school and avoid gaps in our learning schedule.

Now I get some folks looking at me like this is a ridiculous torture to my children, but really they get it. It is part of our day. We don't treat school as a bad or negative thing. They love to learn. So, we keep on learning everyday whether it is an hour of formal lessons or a two hour project.

There will be school today. There will be learning happening in our house today

Zumba Kicked My Butt

Oh dear me. I sit her typing using the only muscles in my body that weren't worked over this morning...my fingers. I'm afraid that the moment I try to stand up my entire body will seize into one cramped ball.

Zumba is tough. I will give it that, but I'm wondering about the brain altering affect that occured when I walked through that doorway this morning. What made me think I was a young and in-shape twenty-something? For some reason being in that group with the loud music pumping I started working like I was that girl from my past-the young step aerobics instructor/dancer that I used to be. My thrity-something mommy of two identity who works out on occassion in the living room with a walking workout DVD, had apparently vanished. And when the instructor said "hey, here's a low impact option," why did I choose to go for the high impact option? Why did my brain cease to function in my time of need?

There I was standing in the middle of the class--that's right, no back row for me (at least I didn't go totally dillusional and opt for a front row spot)--tootsie rolling and hip swivelling like I was some Zumba Queen. I was moving left and right almost always on cue and my rib isolations felt pretty spot on until I looked in the mirror and the reflection I saw in no way matched what was going on in my head. I almost didn't recognize my awkward looking self. I was sure my kicks were going higher than that. And my elbows weren't that bent before, I'd totally felt myself hit that move earlier.

It's funny how our minds and bodies don't always match up. I find the older I get the more this is true.
I was also acutely aware of the scene from The Teacher where Emma takes her first Zumba class. The instructor for my class even had on a bright pink shirt :) But, I was glad no one was watching me from behind on a balcony, because I certainly would have given any spectator a comedy show.

By the end of class I was hurting and sweating, but it still felt good. It is good to move my body, especially since I spend so much time at a computer nowadays. But I have a feeling by nine o'clock tonight I will be a crippled mess.

The real test to see if I survived this experience will come on Monday morning, so stay tuned to see if I do it again!

What's your best workout story?

I'm a Quarter-finalist!!!

Body:

​So HAPPY to announce that "The Bridesmaid" has made it to the Quarter Finals of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA)competition!!!!
Yay! There are 500 entries remaining in the competition, 100 of them are in the romance category.
I have been informed that excerpts from all the contestants will be uploaded by the end of the week. Customers will be able to download excerpts and leave ratings and reviews. If you can't wait that long to see what a quarter finalist's excerpt looks like just hop on over to the book on Amazon where you can read the first few chapters (this is actually more content than was judged in the last round).

Thanks again to everyone and their support of my new career.

Here's a link to get to the book:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H6OOSPG?tag=megr-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B00H6OOSPG&adid=19HCZ48VCAHVFX3WNXYP&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.megcgray.com%2F#reader_B00H6OOSPG

**If you'd like to leave a comment but no text box appears below simply return to the top of the post and click on the title...a box should now be open for your questions and comments.

Category: Events
Published: 4/14/2014 7:16 PM

"How Do You Find a Good Husband Like Daddy?"

Body:

​This is a question I was asked two nights ago after reading a fairytale to my two little loves. I don't know if it is my daughters' new infatuation with the movie "Frozen" and the smooch scene at the end or if it is just their age that is prompting their questions, but the question of finding a man to marry has come up more than once in the past few weeks.

I think it has to be every mother's dream to see their daughter marry well and when I say well I don't neccesarily mean financially. I mean to see their daughter loved and respected by a man.

I have the honor of being the mother to two of the most ingenious, talented, and headstrong little ladies in the world and I will support them anyway I can in finding a partner that is worthy of their loyalty. But I also believe they will have the power to attract the kind of man they deserve by being confident and independent women.

Now, I have told them that they don't have to worry about finding a husband for many years. They are only six and four, so thirty (the age at which I will let them finally move out and seek a marital partner :), just kidding--sort of) is still a ways off.

But we have already started planting the seeds of recognizing the kinds of behavior we look for in friends and eventually spouses. Being kind, respectful, and honest are all the same qualities we will encourage them to look for in a partner. It seems unreal to me that we are embarking on these questions already, but I am glad that their curious minds are talking to us about it instead of just using the fairytales and movies as a road map for finding true love.

I am happy to know that they both have called dibs on their daddy, telling me they will marry him when they get older. There is no need for me to go into why that won't happen for them now. They'll figure that out when they are older, but it does tell me that their father treats me with love and respect  and that they want the same thing for themselves when they get older.

Without a doubt I married a prince charming who has turned out to be an incredible dad to our two daughters. He empowers them daily by engaging with them positively, kissing them good night, and setting up expectations about treating people with respect.

I already dread the dating years, remembering the time from my own youth. But I can honestly say I think it will be harder for my husband to see his little girls opening their hearts to someone else. I pity the dates they will bring home, but pray my girls will find a match as good as the one I found.

Parents of little girls, let me know how you are dealing with this topic or what your greatest fears are in raising young women?

**If you'd like to leave a comment and there is no comment box at the bottom, simply return to the title and click on it. A message box should now appear below.

Category: Thoughts and Opinions
Published: 4/13/2014 8:42 AM

I Love Research

Body:

​I will admit it...I am a total nerd. I love to do research and even loved writing research papers in school. Something about unearthing new information and restructuring it on a page was fun for me. And even more fun when I got a good grade on the paper. That one English paper that I got back from the professor saying I missed the point of the assignment, not so fun, but I still argue that he's the one who missed the point...but that's obviously long forgotten, ha! ha!

Anyway, back to research. I have been doing a lot of it lately for my next book. Combing the internet and talking to people about their life experiences. I'm thankful for all the people out there who are so willing to chat with me and help connect me with people who can help. Some of the minute details people share are what really help to make a story more rich and full of life.

In a lot of ways that is what a story is....a very long research paper and I am enjoying every minute of the process with this new title.

So, if you're writing a book or thinking about writing a book get on the internet and get on the phone to start connecting with people who can help you fill in all the details. It is amazing what you will come across.

**If you'd like to leave a question or comment and a text box does not show below, return to the title, click on it and a box should now appear.

Category: Thoughts and Opinions
Published: 3/15/2014 6:57 PM

If You Could Do Anything...

Body:

​Not very long ago someone asked me, "if you could do or be anything you wanted, what would you do?" And I surprised even myself by saying, "I'm doing it."

I'm living the exact life I want to be living right now. I'm homeschooling my children, spending time learning and growing with them and I'm selling books, that I've written. These were only hopes and dreams I had for myself a few years ago.

When I was teaching kindergarten I was doing exactly what I wanted to do at the time. I had the privilege to work in some great schools and with some incredible people, but I don't feel called back to the classroom. While I was there I loved it. After I had children my outlook on life changed and now I'm pursuing my new dreams.

I will admit that somedays I get tired and bogged down by the responsibility of schooling my children at home and feel like I never have enough time to write. And I certainly do look at the "work" I do and the teeny-tiny number in my bank account. The financial rewards in my life are small right now, but that's not what drives me to do what I do. My passion drives me and yeah, someday, I'd love to see a little increase in the bottom line, but for now I wouldn't trade my experiences for a little more cash.

I honestly can't think of any "job" I want right now other than writing. And while the homeschooling and writing schedules don't always complement each other I'm doing the best I can with it. And it would be a whole lot harder to do if I didn't have the incredible support of my husband. We're a team, supporting each other.

What about you? Are you doing exactly what you want to do? Or if you could change what you're doing now what would you do? What's holding you back from pursuing your passions? And who's on your team supporting your goals?

**If you'd like to leave a comment and no box appears below, simply return to the top and click on the title of this post. It should open with a comment box below. Thanks for checking out this post today!

Category: Thoughts and Opinions
Published: 3/5/2014 7:51 PM

Change of Scenery

Body:

​I have to confess. I hit a wall a couple of weeks ago. Book #3 has been taking formation, but not very smoothly. I finished the first draft about two weeks ago--which to be fair is only a glorified 10,000 word outline. That may sound like a lot of words, but in reality is a choppy mess of about thirty pages. But that's okay. This is how it all starts.

The real problem is that I have been stumbling to get back into it again. I want to get moving on draft two, but feel literally stuck in the mud. At this point, all I'm going to say is that I am experiencing new challenges with this book, which can be a good thing if you want to look at the brightside of things.

I'm excited to push myself to work on something a little beyond my comfort zone, but it's been creating a number of mental blocks for me at the sametime.

So...when I fell ill to the viral bug circulating around our home I hauled my behind up to bed, dragging the laptop with me. Between sniffle blows and sips of tea I got moving on draft two. I'm about 5.000 words into the second draft...and that feels pretty good. I guess what I am getting at is that if you find yourself stumbling with your writing...if you're getting blocked...try a change of scenery (and unplug from the internet).

I found that when I was out of my office, which provides a number of distractions, like papers to file, school lessons to plan, the internet, Facebook, email--just to name a few--I was able to contect with my story and my characters. Our laptop's wireless connection has been disabled, so whenever I would get that wild hair to research a little something I couldn't. I had to stick with the story, make a little note in the text, and keep writing. And I will have to admit I was pleased with the results!

What sort of writing struggles do you have? How do you combat them?

**If you'd like to leave a question or comment and no text box shows below simply return to the title of this post and click on it. You should have a comment box now!

Category: For Writers
Published: 2/23/2014 6:55 PM

School Today!

Body:

​I'm going to use this blog to share about our family's homeschooling experience. As you read please know that I don't tout homeschooling as the best and only option for schooling children. We made a very informed decision when we decided to follow this path because it is right for our family and our children's education. It is the right choice for us and I am passionate about our choice...if I wasn't than this whole thing wouldn't be working out so well.

When I share that we homeschool I get a lot of questions about why we made our choice and how we do it. So, this is simply a platform to share the answers to those questions. If you are at all interested, keep reading....

One thing I love about homeschooling is that we make our own schedule. For instance, today is President's Day. School buildings all across the nation are closed today, but not our's. There will be school today. We maintain a regular schedule of school and avoid gaps in our learning schedule.

Now I get some folks looking at me like this is a ridiculous torture to my children, but really they get it. It is part of our day. We don't treat school as a bad or negative thing. They love to learn. So, we keep on learning everyday whether it is an hour of formal lessons or a two hour project.

There will be school today. There will be learning happening in our house today.

**If you'd like to leave a question or comment and no reply box shows below simply return to the title of this post and click on it. A message box should appear below.

Category: Homeschooling
Published: 2/17/2014 7:32 AM